Sheet metal wall veneer construction



May 15, 1956 R. A. BIGGS SHEET METAL WALL VENEER CONSTRUCTION 3Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 22 1950 INVENTOR.

ICHAFEDA.BIGGS.

A TTUF/VEYS May 15, 1956 R. A. BIGGS SHEET METAL WALL VENEERCONSTRUCTION 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed Aug. 22, 1950 IN VEN TOR.

A TTOI? IVE Y5 May 15, 1956 R. A. BIGGS 2,745,523

SHEET METAL WALL VENEER CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 22, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet3 INVENTOR. RICHARD A.B GGS.

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United States tent SHEET METAL WALL VENEER CONSTRUCTION Richard A.Biggs, New York, N. Y., assignor to Crucible Steel Company of America,New York, N. 35., a corporation of New Jersey Application August 22,1956, Serial No. 180,746

Claims. (Cl. 189-86) This invention pertains to a light gauge, stainlessor corrosion resisting, sheet metal wall veneer of novel constructionand mode of application, and to the sheet metal components thereof,likewise of novel construction and configuration, easily applied ininterlocking relationship and adapted to press snugly against a backingwall of concrete, brick or the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a sheet metal wall veneer ofthe character aforesaid having the solid appearance and deadened soundefiect when struck of metal wall paneling composed of heavy metalplates.

A further object is to provide a sheet metal wall veneer as above whichmay be easily and quickly assembled and disassembled as a whole or as toindividual panels thereof for replacement or repair.

It has heretofore been known to employ metal sheets for covering thewalls of buildings, but as heretofore constructed and applied, theyrequired fastening to the building wall at closely spaced points so asto provide proper engagement with the wall. Such fastening requireseither a wall penetrable at many points by fastening devices or aspecial set of members to which the sheets are fastened at many pointsbut which themselves are fastened to the wall at only a few points.

With the above mentioned prior types of construction, there areporttions of the sheets which are not in intimate contact with thesupporting wall or members caused either by buckling of the sheets, thedesired shape of the sheets, or merely by the fastening arrangementemployed to hold the sheets against the wall or members. Consequently,these portions when struck by an object, such as rain drops, hail, etc.,or when flexed by winds emit an objectionable, metallic or tinny sound.

To make the sheets more rigid or to provide a particular appearance, thesheets have been made with ribs or corrugations. Even with the additionof ribs or corrugations, however, the sheets do not make contact withthe supporting wall over substantially all of their surface areasbecause of curvatures and irregularities in the wall, and hence it hasbeen the practice, as stated, to fasten these ribbed sheets to a wall atmany points around the edges of the sheets.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sheet metalcovering for walls and similar surfaces, comprising sheets which arerelatively thin, light in weight and simple to manufacture, and whichwill conform closely to a supporting wall even though they may beinstalled easily, and which are preferably made of a stainless orcorrosion resisting material which is not appreciably oxidized ordiscolored by atmospheric conditions, such as stainless steel, aluminumor the like.

The sheet metal wall veneer of the invention comprises sheets made of arelatively light gauge metal having a thickness of the order oftwenty-five hundredths of an inch and preferably having a gauge in therange from 20-30 so that the sheets may readily conform to the wallwhich they cover. The metal may be of any type suitable for outdoor usebut preferably is stainless steel or ice aluminum. In the preferredform, the sheets are long relative to their width, for example 4 to 10feet in length and 18 to 24 inches wide, and which are preferably pro=vided with struck-up or embossed strengthening ribs, cor= rugations, orother shapes. I

The component sheets are in accordance with novel aspects thereof, bentor preflexed into a shallow arc, the chord of the are extendinglongitudinally of the sheet, and are mounted on a supporting wall withtheir length dimensions vertical and with their convex faces against thewall so that substantially the entire wall-facing surface of each sheetsnugly engages the wall. Also the sheets are provided along oppositeedges respectively with upturned and with upturned and bent over orchannellike edges for mounting contiguous sheets in interlockingassembly and to avoid the need of securing the sheets to the wall at alledges. The sheets may be simply and easily installed in interlockingrelationship, or removed by disengaging the interlocking, and wheninstalled, the sheets are pressed snugly against the face of the wall byvirtue of the arcuate preflexing referred to. The sheets are alsoprovided with interlocking corners having overlapping portions which areweather tight. The sheets are secured to the backing wall at theiropposite longitudinally disposed ends and by means of channel-likefastening strips mounted in the Wall at appropriate intervals.

The invention includes the novel features embodied by way of example inthe sheets and arrangements hereinafter described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, as illustrating a preferred form of the inventionand the invention will be more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the sheet metal wall veneer of myinvention as applied to the exterior wall of a building.

Figure 2 is a view in vertical sectional elevation of an exteriorbuilding wall having the sheet metal veneer of the invention appliedthereto as taken substantially at 2-2 of Fig. 1. Figure 2a is anenlarged sectional detail of the Fig. 2 showing.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section of the Fig. 1 showing as taken at 3-3thereof.

Figure 4 is a view in side elevation of one of the metal sheets prior toapplication to the wall, and illustrating the. longitudinal arcuatepreshaping or preflexing thereof.

Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of the corner portions of fourcontiguous sheets, illustrative of the man-- ner in which they fittogether at the corners in assembled relationship; while Figure 6 is asectional side elevation of the Fig. 5 showing, as taken at 66 thereof.

Figures 7 and 8 are sectional plan views taken at 7--7 and 8-8respectively of Fig. 6.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, the sheet metalwall veneer of the invention is shown as applied as a wall covering fora brick wall 10. The veneer comprises a plurality of thin metal sheetsor panels 11 to 17 inclusive, which are mounted, as explained below, inintimate contact with the exterior surface of the wall 10. Because thesheets are fastened to the wall at only a relatively few points, asexplained below, the invention is particularly useful for covering hardwalls of the brick or concrete types, but the veneer may also be appliedto walls made of other materials, such for example as wood.

Referring to Fig. 4, each sheet, such as 12, is preshaped or prefiexedto have a slightly arcuate contour in longitudinal section, as shown,and is mounted with the convex curvature of the arc disposed against thebacking wall 10. The depth of the arc is preferably of the order of /2to 1 inch for a panel approximately 8 feet in length. As further shownin Fig. 4 the upper transverse edge of each sheet is turned upsubstantially at right'angles to the panel 3 proper, as at 18; while thelewer transverse edge is turned up and bent under being substantiallyU-shaped or channel-like in configuration, as at 19.

Referring to Fig.3, one longitudinal or side edge of each sheet su 'chas" 12-, is turned up and bent under into substantially U shape orchannel like configuration, as at 20,- while the opposite longitudinalor side edge is bent up substantially at right angles to the panelproper, and preferably thence parallel thereto to provide an upturnededge of substantially L-shaped configuration as at 21, whereby theL-shaped edge 21' of the panel 12 engages the opposite or U-shaped' edge22 of a; contiguous panel 13, in interlocking engagemerit as shown. V

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2,*the sheet metal panels 11-17 inclusive aresecured to the backing wall 10 by means of fastening strips, such as 23,24* and 25, These fastening strips are nidunted upoh the wall as at 23,or embedded in the wall as at 24, 25', a't'appfopriately spacedintervals corresponding to the leii gths of the strips 12, 15, Fig. 2.Each fasteningstrip' projects beyond the wall surface and is providedwith a bent over edge of substantially U- shap'ed or channel-likeconfiguration as at 26, Fig. 2. Formounting'purposes each strip isprovided with a plurality of perforations suchas 27, through whichmortar may extend in the embedded strips, such as 24, 25, or throughWhichattachingbolts; such as 28, may extend for the upper strip 23. d VI For reinforcing purposes,- the sheet metal panels such as 11 to 17inclusive, may be provided with longitudinally extending ribs such as;29, which may also extend transversely of the panels if desired;or otherreinforcing shapes may be impressed o'f'ernbossed The procedure forassembling the sheet metal panels on theb'a'cking' Wallis asffollowsgreferring more particularly toFigs. 2 to 4'in clusiv'e. Theupper upturned edge 18 of a sheet metal panel member such as .12 isinserted in the U-shaped or channel-like projection 26 of the upperfastening strip 23, and the sheet metal panel 12 thereupon flexed snuglyagainst the backing wall 10, until the lower U-shaped end 19 thereof,overlaps the channellike projection 24a of the next lower fasteningstrip 24, in' the manner shown more clearly in the enlarged fragmentaryview, Fig. 2d. Thereup'on the'end 19 of the sheet metal panel 12 and theprojecting portion 241; of the fastening strip 24; are secured togetherby means of a self-tapping screw 59, threaded through the lowerprojecting portions 30, 31 of the U-shaped'members 19 and24a-res'pectively, Fig. 2a. Thereupon the upper upturned.

edge 32 of thenex't lower panel member 15 is inserted in theU-'shaped*portion 24b of th'e fastening strip 24, and the panel member 1flexed against the'b acking wall until its lower upturned end'33overlaps the projecting portion 34 of the next lower fastening mp2s.Assuming the panel strip to be the'lowerniost strip of the wall veneer,it may terminate in an upturned channel-like edge similar to 19 of Fig.20, but preferably 'has'the configuration shown at 33 of Fig. 2, forwater shedding purposes. Drain holes 35 may be provided therein fordraining off condensed moisture. With either construction however theterminus 33 of the panel member 15 is secured to the projecting portion34 of the fastening strip 25 by means ofa self tapping screw'36 in themanner illustrated in-Fig. 2a.

Referring to' the horizontal sectional view of Fig. 3, the'sheet metalpanels are assembled on the backing wall 10, in'the'horizontaldirection'in the order of the panel numberings' 11 to 14 inclusive, thatis'to say the panel 11 is first installed, and thepanel 12 nextinstalled with the cha nnel-like'edge 20overlapping the L-shaped edge 37of panel 11, and so on progressively for the remaining panels;

In addition to making-the overlapping edges of'the sheet metal panelsrelatively weather-tight as above described,-- it is also desirable thatthe corners of the sheets overlap each-other so as to form asubstantially weathertight joint. In Fig. 5 there is shown the manner ofconstructing the corners of the various sheets so that when the sheetsare assembled, thecorners overlap in a weathertight fashion. in thisfigure the lower right hand corner of sheet 11 is shown having anup-turned, L-shaped edge at and an up-turned, U-shaped edge 41, which atthe corner portion 42 reduces in size to the size of the upturned edge40. The lower left hand corner of sheet 12 has a pair of lip-turned,U-shaped edges 43 and 44, which are cut away at 45 and 46 respectivelysothat the, edges. 43 and 44 may overlappingly engage the up-turned edges40 and 41 respectively of sheet 11.

The upper edge 47 of sheet 18 has an up-turned edge which engages withthe inside of the U-shap'ed portion 24:: of fastening strip 24. Thisup-turfied edge 47 is cut away at the end for ease of manufacture andfor ease of assembly with the strip 24 and the corners of the sheets 11,12 and 18. Sheet 18 also has a right hand U-shaped edge 48, whichreduces in size, as indicated at 49, so that it may be inserted underthe U-shaped edge' 40 of sheet 11. d

Sheet 15 also has an up-turned edge50 which fits within the U-shapedportion 24a of strip 24 and a U shape'd' edge 51 which reduces in sizeat the portion'indicated by the numeral 52 so as to fit under theL-shaped edge 42' of sheet 11' and over reduced portion 49 of theU-shaped edge48 of sheet 18.

l. A' rectangulan sheet metal, veneer panel, of substantially uniformgauge throughout and having side edges and upper and lower transverseedges, said panel being of slightly arcuate contour in thedirectionibetween one pair of its oppositely disposed edges for mountingsaid panel substantially flat and in flexed condition again'sta backingwall engaging the normally convex surface of said panel, said panelterminating along one side edge and said lower edge in struck-up, sideand transverse ribs of substantially U-shape in cross section, the opensides of said ribs facing in the same direction as said convex surfaceand an extension of a portion of at least one of said ribs at thecontiguous ends thereof forming a corner of said panel, and theoppositely disposed side and upper edges being up-turned for dispositionthe ribs of an adjacent similar panel, said side rib and saidupturnedside edge having upper ends adjacent said upper edge and atleast one of said upper ends havingf a spacing from the edge contiguousthereto which is less than the width of said transverse rib wherebysaidex'tem, sion overlaps said one end when a plurality of said panelsare mounted adjacent each other with said upturned edgesv disposedwithin the ribs of the next adjacentipanel, and' certain of said ribsbeing adapted for reception of arid attachment to supporting members formounting said panel on said backing wall.

2. A rectangular, sheet metal, veneer panel, of stantially uniform gaugethroughout, said panel being of slightly arcuate contour in thedirection between one pair of its oppositely disposed edges formounting'saidfpanel substantially flat and in flexed condition against abacking wall engaging the normally convexsurface of said panel, saidpanel terminating along one pair of contiguous edges in struck-up ribsof substantially U-shape in cross section," the open sides of said ribsfacing in the] same direction as said convex'surface and extensions ofaportion 'of at least one of said ribs at the contiguous ends thereof andat the opposite end of one of said forming corners of said panel, andthe oppositely disposed eontiguous edges being up-turned for dispositionwithin the ribs of an adja cent similar panel, and certain of said ribsbeing adapted for reception of and attachment tosupporting members,

for mounting said panel on said backing wall, one of said ribs being ofreduced dimensions atthe end thereof opposite from said contiguous endsand said end being spaced from the edge contiguous thereto a distanceless than the width of said ribs, andthe other end thereof as well asthe ends of the contiguous rib and the ends of said upturned edges,being in part, cut away, to permit fitting contiguous panels togetherwith an overlap at the corners.

3. In combination, a backing wall and a plurality of rectangular, sheetmetal veneer panels facing the same, each panel being of substantiallyuniform gauge throughout and being formed with a slightly arcuatecontour in the direction between one pair of its oppositely disposededges and each panel having side edges and upper and lower transverseedges, means mounting said panels substantially flat and in flexedcondition against said backing wall with said wall engaging the normallyconvex surface of each said panel, each said panel terminating along oneside edge and said lower edge in struck-up, side and transverse ribs ofsubstantially U-shaped configuration in cross section, the open sides ofsaid ribs facing in the same direction as said convex surface and anextension of a portion of at least one of said ribs at the contiguousends thereof forming a corner of said panel, and the oppositely disposedside and upper edges thereof being upturned and disposed within the ribsof adjacent said panels, said side rib and said upturned side edgehaving upper ends adjacent said upper edge and at least one of saidupper ends having a spacing from the edge contiguous thereto which isless than the width of said transverse rib whereby said extensionoverlaps said one end when said panels are mounted as aforesaid.

4. In combination, a backing wall and a plurality of rectangular, sheetmetal veneer panels facing the same, each panel being of substantiallyuniform gauge throughout and being formed with a slightly arcuatecontour in the direction between one pair of its oppositely disposededges and each panel having side edges and upper and lower transverseedges, means mounting said panels substantially flat and in flexedcondition against said backing wall with said wall engaging the normallyconvex surface of each said panel, each said panel terminating along oneside edge and said lower edge in struck-up, side and transverse ribs ofsubstantially U-shaped configuration in cross section, the open sides ofsaid ribs facing in the same direction as said convex surface andextensions of a portion of at least one of said ribs at the contiguousends thereof and at the opposite end of said transverse rib formingcorners of said panel, and the oppositely disposed side and upper edgesthereof being up-turned and disposed within the ribs of adjacent saidpanels, said side rib of each panel being of reduced dimensions at theend thereof adjacent said upper edge and said last-mentioned end havinga spacing from said upper edge which is less than the width of saidtransverse rib and the other end of said side rib as well as the ends ofthe transverse rib and the ends of the said up-turned edges of saidpanel, being in part, cut

away to permit fitting contiguous panels together with an overlap at thecorners, and contiguous said panels being so mounted.

5. In combination, a backing wall and a plurality of rectangular, sheetmetal veneer panels facing the same, each panel being of substantiallyuniform gauge throughout and being formed with a slightly arcuatecontour in the direction between one pair of its oppositely disposededges and each panel having side edges and upper and lower transverseedges, means mounting said panels substantially fiat and in flexedcondition against said backing wall with said wall engaging the normallyconvex surface of each said panel, each said panel terminating along oneside edge and said lower edge in struck-up, side and transverse ribs ofsubstantially U-shaped configuration in cross section, the open sides ofsaid ribs facing in the same direction as said convex surface andextensions of a portion of at least one of said ribs at the contiguousends thereof and at the opposite end of said transverse rib formingcorners of said panel, and the oppositely disposed side and upper edgesthereof being up-turned and disposed within the ribs of adjacent saidpanels, said side rib of each panel being of reduced dimensions at theend thereof adjacent said upper edge and said last-mentioned end havinga spacing from said upper edge which is less than the width of saidtransverse rib, and the other end of said side rib as well as the endsof the transverse rib and the ends of the said up-turned edges of saidpanel, being in part, cut away to permit fitting contiguous panelstogether with an overlap at the corners, and contiguous said panelsbeing so mounted, said mounting means comprising supports secured to andprojecting from said walls at intervals corresponding to the spacing ofcertain said ribs, said supports extending into the grooves formed bythe inner faces of said ribs, and means securing said supports to saidribs thereat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,920,490 Tracy Aug. 1, 1933 2,128,495 Murphy Aug. 30, 1938 2,153,320Venzie Apr. 4, 1939 2,178,817 Small Nov. 7, 1939 2,476,451 Murphy et alJuly 19, 1949 2,477,987 Kinghorn Aug. 2, 1949 2,530,465 Harding Nov. 21,1950 2,649,172 Allen Aug. 18, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 21,792 Great BritainOct. 26, 1905 809,334 France Dec. 3, 1936

